Following is a roundup of 10 interesting PR- and media-related stories found online last week:
Goodbye, Journalism: The Use of Filtered Quotes: The New York Times published a story revealing that it and other news organizations routinely type up quotes from interviews with politicians and their advisers, and send them to these officials for edits and approval. This development signals the crossing over into a territory where filtering is an accepted practice. This new territory makes the person being interviewed the reporter's editor; it means the words placed between quotation marks don't need to be the actual words spoken by the person being "quoted"; it means it's all a lie. (ArkansasOnline.com, The Washington Post)
The 25 Most Overused Words and Phrases in Press Releases: "Authentic," "best of breed," exclusive," "leverage," "proud to announce" and "state of the art" are among the 25 most predictable words and phrases used in press releases. They're overused because they're effective in setting the tone or context of the information in the release, but they're basically meaningless now. "Keep in mind, the point is not to avoid these words entirely, but to use them with discretion or find case-specific substitutes." (PR News)
Guns, Gun Control and Gun Crimes: What Journalists Need to Know: The shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., brings the debate over guns and gun control into the spotlight. This means journalists had better be aware of the basics when reporting on these subjects. Here's a helpful primer, from calibers/gauges; bullets and ammunition; the difference between pistols, shotguns, rifles and assault rifles; automatic vs. semi-automatic; and a brief history of gun control, among other fundamentals. (Poynter)
PR Sensitivity (and Insensitivity) After the Colorado Theater Shooting: After the deadly Aurora, Colo., shootings, Warner Bros. made quick crisis-management adjustments, canceling the scheduled premiere of "The Dark Knight Rises" in Paris and planning to cancel the rest of its international press tour. The studio is also reportedly working on a gun-free trailer for its TV spots. Some networks pulled commercials for the film from their schedules. On the other side of the sensitivity spectrum are the likes of National Rifle Association, Fandango and Celeb Boutique. (Variety, CinemaBlend.com, US News and World Report)
Why 'Future of Journalism' Conferences Fail: Why do all "future of journalism" conferences fail? They don't include the right people. These discussions don't include the perspectives of consumers, technologists, marketers and investors, four key groups that would help come up with practical and actionable ideas. "To build next-gen journalism, we will need all the help we can get. And that means bringing many more players to the table than the usual suspects who turn up at most journo-futuramas." (Reflections of a Newsosaur)
Optimizing Social Media Activities With Disclosures: Disclosures don't have to limit your social media activities, marketing programs and corporate communications -- they can actually optimize your use of social media for improved engagement and ROI. Remember that disclosures are about your reputation, not just compliance. (Convince and Convert Blog)
How to Get on a Journalist's Bad Side: PR professionals are in the business of getting on people's nerves because they're "contacting someone who doesn’t know that they want to hear from you." However, there are some things to avoid to help your cause. Among the 17 ways to get on a journalist's bad side are sending a mass email, calling them and not knowing anything about the company you're pitching, including large files in emails, asking to see a list of questions before an interview, and sending a pitch then going on vacation. (PR Daily)
How Twitter and Reddit Can Be Used to Build the Newsroom of the Future: Twitter and Reddit are continuing to produce examples of how real-time information networks can be utilized to report on breaking news stories. A recent example is a member of Reddit using tweets to generate a news report about a shooting in Toronto. When comparing this with a CBC story, it's clear that the story on Reddit is harder to read. But the Reddit version is also easer to fact-check, since it includes links that the CBC story doesn't. "Imagine how much better the CBC story could have been if it had made use of some of the background and linking practices that you see in the Reddit post, or if the two had worked together, and you get some idea of what the newsroom of the future looks like." (GigaOM)
Public Relations and the Myth of ROI: When a client expects to see a direct benefit from media coverage to their bottom line, it's a problem. Volume is a good place to start when measuring PR success, but it's not the end of the matter. After understanding what publicity offers and how best to capitalize on it, it's time to distinguish between the short-term and long-term benefits of PR. (Business 2 Community)
The 40 Best Blogs for Journalism Students and Professionals to Follow: While this list of 40 journalism blogs is targeted at journalism students, it's relevant for anyone who works or is interested in journalism. Included in the list are Online Journalism Blog, Backpack Journalism Blog, BuzzMachine, PhotoBlog and Reportr.net. (OEDb)
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